Big boost for IT sector
A joint venture of two companies from France and Japan will construct the second submarine cable station in Kuakata of Patuakhali, which will serve as an alternative to the existing submarine cable and ensure uninterrupted and secure ICT services.
Apart from increasing the country's internet bandwidth, the second submarine cable, known as SEA-ME-WE-5, will help the country earn additional revenue by providing restorable circuits to the clients.
French company Alcatel Lucent and Japanese NEC have been selected for setting up the landing station and doing other associated works.
The Post and Telecommunication Division recently submitted a proposal to the cabinet committee on economic affairs, seeking approval of the project to connect the nation to a second submarine cable. The proposal is likely to be placed in today's meeting.
The installation of the second cable station will be completed by 2016 and then the SEA-ME-WE-5 would start its commercial activity, said the telecom division. Bangladesh will obtain 1300Gbps capacity in its internet service.
An international consortium comprising 17 countries has been implementing the Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 5 Cable System project as an alternative and supplementary to the existing SEA-ME-WE-4.
According to the proposal, Bangladesh signed a Construction and Maintenance Agreement (C&MA) with the member states of the consortium on March 7 last year for setting up the second submarine cable.
The joint venture company has been selected as per the rules and regulations of the consortium, the proposal said.
The total cost for implementing the project is Tk 660 crore. Of the amount, the government will provide Tk 166 crore while Tk 352 crore will come from project aid. The remaining Tk 142 crore will come from the state-owned Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd (BSCCL).
The government has already signed an agreement with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) on August 27, 2014, to secure the loan for the project.
If the existing undersea cable gets snapped, it takes seven to eight days to restore the cable line which consequently affects the country's international telecommunication system, said the telecom division.
The second cable will serve as a backup for the previous undersea cable as well. The single backbone fibre optic network will link Southeast Asia, Middle East, East Africa and Europe.
The BSCCL has been running the first submarine cable from 2008, making profit right from the beginning.
While the submarine cable has the capacity to handle 200 gigabyte per second (gbps) data, the BSCCL handles only around 50 gbps. The rest capacity remains unutilised.
But at the same time, six licensed companies use Indian landline cable for international data transfer. According to industry insiders, they use up around 70 to 80 gbps.
“They have been using the Indian service because it is cheaper and more efficient than the price and service offered by the BSCCL,” said an expert of an International Gateway operator.
Experts, however, say despite the underutilisation, they have been supporting installation of a second submarine cable for a long time.
“We need redundancy in the system as a backup. The existing submarine cable is already 7 years into operation. It will need replacement within five-six years anyway. So we need this second cable,” said the expert.
Besides, the data sector has a tremendous growth of 70 to 80 percent every year. Once the new submarine cable is installed, it will help the BSCCL increase its market share of international data flow business, provided it offers cost effective and improved services.
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